Meet the new boss: 8 more coaching changes in area keep trend going

Even the NFL would begin to ask questions if its coaching ranks resembled the revolving door that has become the norm lately for high school football coaches.<br /> <br /> Over the last three years, of the 30 northeast Georgia teams that we cover at accessnorthga.com on a weekly basis, 20 have had head coaching changes -- some more than once -- in that span.<br /> <br /> Towns County and Lumpkin County have notched three coaches each over the past three seasons.<br /> <br /> Eight more area programs will start the 2014 season with new head coaches, including perennial powers North Hall and Stephens County.<br /> <br /> The Trojans were stunned by Bob Christmas's decision to move back to Virginia to lead one of his former programs at the end of last season. Christmas took the Trojans to heights they had never seen before, guiding them to 106 of the program's 223 total wins in just 13 seasons. The program has been around for 57 years.<br /> <br /> Trojans' long-time assistant David Bishop now gets the task of trying to follow a legend.<br /> <br /> "Make no mistake, it's not easy to follow coach Christmas, and we still talk -- almost every day -- and he gives me advice," Bishop said. "But I am very excited about this opportunity. I came with coach Christmas to this program, and I'm ready for this challenge. Our core values remain the same... but I'm also putting my own fingerprints on the program."<br /> <br /> For the Indians' Frank Barden, it was a perfect-storm situation to return to where it all began. Barden initiated his coaching career as an assistant at Stephens County in 1986 before taking over Cartersville in 1996 and leading the Hurricanes to the 1999 Class AA title, as well as 154 wins in 18 seasons.<br /> <br /> "My son graduated and I had 30 years in as a teacher and it just felt right to come back to where my family is," Barden said. "Stephens has been a traditional power for many years, and I think this was just the right time to come back and get them back to where they had been."<br /> <br /> The Chestatee program, which has been on the rise after back-to-back playoff runs, was left with a huge hole to fill after Stan Luttrell, who went 46-38 in eight seasons with three playoff appearances -- including the team's first postseason win last season -- left to take over the strength program at Buford.<br /> <br /> Bill Forman has the reins for the War Eagles now and said they will try and build on what Luttrell and his staff started.<br /> <br /> "It was a little bit bumpy start because of it being such a late transition (Forman was hired in late April), but overall it has been an easy transition," Forman said. "There are some new things in the program -- there are four new coaches on staff -- and we're excited. Coach Luttrell set a standard, and that standard has been raised the past two years. And we want to exceed even that."<br /> <br /> On the surface, Lanier looked to have the most hectic change of any program with Billy Wells leaving in July to become the Athletic Director at North Hall. But long-time assistant Korey Mobbs has stepped in and tried to keep things moving forward for the newest up-and-coming school out of Gwinnett County.<br /> <br /> "It was a little hectic with summer already starting and everything," Mobbs said. "But we didn't change anything and we know the personnel so really it hasn't been as traumatic as many would think. It's a little tough at first to get used to having to worry about everything instead of just your one area, but so far it's gone pretty smooth. Hopefully the rest of the season will be smooth as well."<br /> <br /> Heath Webb has the tough task of trying to rebuild a once-proud Winder-Barrow program. But the former North Paulding coach knows about building, or rebuilding, programs from the ground up. He opened North Paulding and produced a winning season in just his third year for the Wolfpack.<br /> <br /> "Instilling a winning attitude and the belief that you can win is the key to building any program," Webb said. "We did that at North Paulding and we didn't even have a home field for the first 18 games the school played. At Winder, we already have the talent and the facilities are awesome. Once the kids believe they can win games I think we can get the program back to where it used to be 10 to 20 years ago."<br /> <br /> Lumpkin County, meanwhile, is on its third coach in three season, as Ty Maxwell, a 2006 Lumpkin County grad, takes over after spending the last several years as an assistant at Chestatee.<br /> <br /> Maxwell said trying to stabilize the program has been his first priority.<br /> <br /> "There has been a lot of turnover and some of these kids have had four offensive coordinators in three seasons," Maxwell said. "That's tough at any level. But despite all that our numbers are up and we're putting in a system that will allow the kind of talent we have here to be successful. <br /> <br /> "The kids have bought into what we're trying to do and are hungry for some success and to show people they can play. It's great to come back home and to help the community I grew up in to have success again. I think we can and I believe the kids are starting to believe that as well."<br /> <br /> Further north, long-time Gainesville defensive coordinator Jim Pavao joined Fannin County in the offseason after leaving the Red Elephants. The Rebels are on their third head coach since 2011 but just four years removed from a playoff berth.<br /> <br /> After averaging seven wins a season from 2006-10 with three playoff appearances, the Rebels have won just seven games since.<br /> <br /> "There's a lot of talent here," Pavao said. "Hopefully we can teach them and harness that and build a solid program. The kids just need to have some early success and begin to believe in themselves and then everything else will take care of itself."<br /> <br /> Coaches, and fans, will hope the turnover calms down for a few years. <br /> <br /> Banks County, Commerce, East Jackson, Habersham Central, Jefferson, Lumpkin County, North Forsyth, and Towns County each changed coaches after 2012 -- and six changed coaches two years ago -- Flowery Branch, Jackson County, Johnson, Rabun County, Riverside Military Academy, and West Hall.<br /> <br /> With so much recent change, only nine programs have head coaches that have been at their current teams five years or longer (including this season): Bruce Miller, Gainesville (13), Brian Allison, Union County (13), Jeff Lee, Dawson County (12), Shannon Jarvis, Mill Creek (11), Jess Simpson, Buford (10), Shane Davis, Apalachee (10), Bob Sphire, North Gwinnett (9), Bryan Gray, East Hall (8) and Matthew Gruhn, Lakeview Academy (8).<br /> <br /> Numbers such as those were once commonplace. But change -- in all levels of the sport -- is becoming the new normal.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/8/278420